Farm aides cross generations, genres

Tao Rodriquez-Seeger (left), Pete Seeger, and Guy Davis play two area farm-relief concerts. (Thom wolke)

Madonna is coming to town this fall. So are Janet and Tina. But in difficult times, thrilling to the pop divas doesn't seem quite as monumental as the need to put healthy food on kitchen tables. And keep farmers on their farms. And help save the planet while we're at it.

A pair of prominent farm-relief concerts are coming to New England in the coming weeks. Folk music icon Pete Seeger, along with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and bluesman Guy Davis, are headlining two shows this weekend: Friday at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, N.H., and Saturday at Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro, Vt. Funds raised from the concerts will benefit a new micro-loan program for New England farmers, as well as food pantry operations at the Upper Valley Haven, a homeless shelter for families in White River Junction, Vt.

The following weekend, Farm Aid, the country's longest-running benefit concert series, comes to New England for the first time, Sept. 20 at the Comcast Center. Headliners include founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp, as well as Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, the Pretenders, moe., Arlo Guthrie, Steve Earle, Jakob Dylan, and Grace Potter. Farm Aid, which is based in Somerville, helps family farmers thrive through a series of grants and resource programs, raises awareness about the burgeoning Good Food movement, and promotes fair farm policies and grassroots organizing campaigns nationwide.

Seeger is now 89, and his live performances are few and far between, but farm relief has become a priority for the legendary activist. In July, Seeger, who performs in a singing and storytelling trio with his grandson and Davis, appeared at a series of concerts in Canada to benefit Seeds of Survival, which supports marginal farming communities in developing countries. According to Rodriguez-Seeger, the plight of the family farmer is of pressing concern for both generations.

"My grandpa talks about small organizations being the key to change, the key to making a difference, and I agree. We've got too many suits and ties making decisions about what we eat," says Rodriguez-Seeger, a member of the roots group the Mammals, from his home in Beacon, N.Y. "I think that decision needs to be put back in the hands of local people. We need to get back to a less corporate lifestyle."

Seeger the younger is 36; he was born and raised on farmland in Nicaragua, has family scattered throughout New England, and is engaged to a Maine native who's studying to become a chef. He's been performing with his famous grandfather for two decades, since he was a 16-year-old radical who believed that armed revolution was the only solution to America's problems. Rodriguez-Seeger has since learned a new approach.

"I was in Ireland recently where the musician and lifelong peace activist Tommy Sands started a thing called the Music of Healing, where he brings music and food and art to politicians and gets them to participate in this very normal human ritual of sharing. Gerry Adams and Jeffrey Donaldson were taking questions and at the end we sang 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone,' which is a song I've not been comfortable singing. It's too famous, and too many people have asked me to sing it, but for the first time in my life I felt the song really had purpose. These two men who couldn't shake hands were singing together," marvels Rodriguez-Seeger. "The musician's role is to entertain, of course, but it's also to grease the wheels of human progress."

Farm Aid, the Big Kahuna of farm-relief benefits, was also founded on the belief that music has the power to raise consciousness as well as money - and not just among audiences. Attendees will be able to experience farm life firsthand in the Homegrown Village and eat local, organic, family-farm food at the Comcast Center's concession stands.

But one of the reasons the concert was held in the heartland for so many years after its founding in 1985 is that Nelson believed it was just as important for the farmers to attend as the ticket-buying public. Family farming in New England has seen rapid growth in recent years, and Nelson is excited to be bringing his message, and his methodology, to the region.

"One of our main objectives was to let the farmers know that somebody was working on their causes for them," Nelson says. "Any time we have any kind of gathering I want to see as many farmers so they can all hear each other's stories. That's how things get fixed. People sit around and talk about each other's problems."

Farm Aid is sold out. Seeger's Vermont concert on Saturday is sold out, but tickets to the Friday show in New Hampshire ($50, $35, $30, and $10 for children under 10) are available at 603-448-0400.